


Sometimes Being Stealthy Isn't Enough

by jacquelee



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Community: prompt-in-a-box, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 13:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2231532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naomi knows how to acquire knowledge on Voyager by being stealthy, but when Seven goes missing, stealth isn’t enough anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometimes Being Stealthy Isn't Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Written for round 76 at [Prompt-in-a-box](http://prompt-in-a-box.livejournal.com).

Naomi knew how to get around Voyager without being bothered by concerned adults. She had known for quite some time. Ever since she had been old enough to walk she had been fascinated with exploring the ship, knowing everything there was to know about it, her home, and its crew, her family. 

Very soon the trips with Mom or Neelix to the mess hall or the holodeck weren’t enough anymore. It was boring to always be told that the nooks and crannies, the closed doors and the interesting looking bulkheads weren’t for her, that it was ‘too dangerous’. It wasn’t like she was reckless or anything, she didn’t even touch stuff – well, not since that one regrettable incident with an open power conduit – the Doctor had said there were no lasting damages, so all was well, really. 

She already knew where it was safe to go and what places she should avoid after the first few times she explored the ship on her own. So she came up with a plan to get the adults to realize that she knew what she was doing. She told Mom and Neelix that she wanted to go on missions too, just like them, that she wanted to learn all there was to learn about Starfleet and how the ship worked. 

And since adults were always all about learning stuff, it was obvious that with a little persuading, this plan worked out very well and gave her much more freedom to roam around the ship than before. 

But there was still the problem of all the well meaning adults asking her how she was, engaging in idle chatter and generally treating her like a baby. Not that she didn’t like talking to the crew, but she liked it to be on her terms, and she absolutely didn’t like being treated as if she knew nothing and couldn’t do anything. 

So one day she hid from a few crewmembers she knew for excessively treating her like a tiny toddler. It wasn’t a very good hiding place, just a niche, and those crewmembers still saw her, but the strangest thing happened. Instead of acknowledging her and engaging her, they just smiled and put their fingers on their lips and walked by. 

She asked Mom about it, who laughed and said that they probably thought she was playing hide and seek, a game that apparently was popular on Earth. Naomi didn’t really care much about it or the reason for the adults’ behaviour, but she did take this experience to heart and from then on, every time she wanted to explore the ship in peace and someone came her way, she just hid somewhere and when (if, as she got much better at hiding) they saw her, she would put her finger on her lips and they would just smile and move on. 

It always worked like a charm, and in the following months, she acquired extensive knowledge not only about the ship itself but also about the crew. It wasn’t like she was eavesdropping, she knew that was bad, but really, how was she supposed to ever be the Captain’s assistant if she didn’t know what was going on, and nobody except Neelix and Mom ever told her anything. 

And even Neelix had tried to hide facts from her that one time. Granted, he did it out of good intentions, but really, it had upset her a lot. That he thought of her as if she couldn’t handle anything, as if she was still a baby was infuriating. She wasn’t a baby, she was very capable of handling bad news and of coping with any situation. 

Which was why she had been using her stealth skills for shadowing Seven. She wanted to learn from her, to know everything about being perfect. Obviously, she hadn’t been able to hide from Seven long, but she was still very happy that she had done that, because she had found one of her best friends in the process. 

And that was why she was standing here in the turbolift right now, with a padd in her hand. A padd that detailed a rescue plan for Seven of Nine. Naomi had been distraught when she heard about Seven not having come back from the Borg ship, presumably having rejoined the Borg. 

There wasn’t even much use to her stealth techniques at all in this situation, because most of the crew didn’t even talk about Seven at all, and if they did, then in a sense that made it clear that they believed that Seven left on her own accord, that she betrayed the Captain. Which was absolutely unthinkable to Naomi. She knew with one hundred percent certainty that Seven would never do that. She loved Voyager, she loved her life her, and she loved the Captain. 

That much had been very clear to Naomi since forever, and even more so since they had been trapped in that monster that tried to eat them. Seven would never ever ever leave Voyager on her own accord. And it was even more unlikely that she would rejoin the Borg. She hated the Borg. She would never ever rejoin them. Ever.

But only Mom and Neelix supported her, most of the others just smiled and changed the subject when she would vehemently insist on Seven’s loyalty. There wasn’t even any information to find anywhere on the ship as to a potential rescue. Well, there was some indication, mainly that Janeway hadn’t come to the mess hall for more than her regularly scheduled coffee that she took with her to wherever since Seven had disappeared. 

The Captain not taking her meals in the mess hall was always an indication that there was something going on, and Naomi just knew that in this case it was Seven. Captain Janeway would never give up on Seven just like that, she would never believe that Seven had wanted to stay with the Borg. She knew her better than that. 

But it had been days now and Naomi began feeling restless and desperate. It was actually Mom who suggested that she talked to the Captain about this. Naomi hesitated, because she didn’t know how to do that without outright accusing the Captain of not caring about Seven, but then she got the idea of drawing up a plan for the rescue herself. 

It wasn’t much, pretty much definitely not something that Janeway wouldn’t have thought of herself, but it was enough to go to the bridge and demand an audience. Which was exactly what Naomi was about to do. 

The turbolift came to a halt and she breathed deeply and composed herself. This was a matter that she had to take head on. No more use for stealth. She needed to know and she needed to know right now. 

For Seven. For herself.


End file.
